‘A missed opportunity waiting to happen? The social legacy potential of the London 2012 Paralympic Games’

spear conducted extensive exploration of the potential for the London 2012 Paralympic Games to generate positive social outcomes for disabled people.

This study involved a review of Olympic and Paralympic research, the policies and strategy-planning documents related to the 2012 Games and the history of the disability rights movement.

Key Findings

• Strategic leveraging at international, national and local level involving the identification, implementation and evaluation of the action required is necessary to maximise positive outcomes and minimise the risk of conflicting action – or even inaction.
• The Olympic Games were largely both intentionally and unintentionally overlooked in legacy planning which appeared to assume that they offered few specific opportunities beyond those served by the generic legacy strategies catering for ‘The 2012 Games’.

Date: 2009